


Heaven Rode Against Them

by slushpup16



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Literary References & Allusions, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:27:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slushpup16/pseuds/slushpup16
Summary: Mac O'Brien was granted entrance to Vault 111 due to her sister, Nora's, family. Mac also survives the meltdown within the Vault, seemingly by chance. The world outside has changed, and her only drive is to find her sister. If she is still alive.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor/Piper Wright
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	1. A Life Leveled

**Author's Note:**

> I know this breaks from canon, but I felt like there is decent flexibility within the community. As tagged, this will be a slow burn between an OC and Piper Wright, but I'll try to make it tasteful. I'll hopefully be able to post fairly often, seeing as how I have a lot of time now.

December 9th:  
_It had been about six weeks since I left the vault. The whole situation came as a whirlwind. A yellow jacket, the alarms, the heat of the blast, and then cold. Intense cold, that I still haven’t shaken from my bones. The world I had emerged back into was a husk of what it once was. When the bombs fell, it had been fall. Almost Halloween. I always loved the holiday, but seeing the decorations still fluttering in the wind made the occasion seem far more sinister than any horror flick ever could. I walked back to Sanctuary, and found people there. Settlers that said another “vaultie” had told them about the place. I knew exactly who that was, and I needed to find her. ___

____

December 15:  
_I rummaged around Concord, or what was left, for a little too long. I found myself hiding out of a hellacious storm that turned the sky green and made my skin tingle. My vault suit didn’t do much for the cold, so I had to scavenge clothes off of the dead that lie scattered in the streets. I was scared. I had seen so much in my life before, several military services, fights, riots, but nothing like this. Nothing compared to the animals that scattered as you walked past that were mutated almost beyond recognition. One of the settlers of Sanctuary, Preston I think, gave me a standard issue pistol. They were an odd bunch, and a few weren’t the friendliest. Though they did offer to let me stay, I refused the offer. Sanctuary was never my home anyway, and I decided to set off toward what they called Diamond City. If some asshole loots this off my body, know my name was Mac O’Brien, and that I hope you rot. ___

____

Mac closed the small book that she had been writing her thoughts down in, and shoved it back into her pack. Though it was far less snowy that Boston used to be at this time of year, it was still cold. She was still on the way toward Diamond City, but had stopped to earn some money from the Abernathy Farm. They asked if she was with the Minute Men, but she said, “No, I’m on my own. I just need some money and directions.”  
They helped her out with the money issue. She did some work around their farm, picking crops, doing repairs, and other random tasks that were sprung on her suddenly. The man, Blake, told her of his late daughter, and her locket, both taken by a pack of raiders nearby. Mac was sympathetic, truly, but had to emphasize that she couldn’t help him at this time. After a day or so, she bought some extra supplies from another Abernathy family member and left in the night.  
On her way South, she discovered a place she used to visit fairly often, Walden Pond. Mac had always like to read, and would have gone into English had she been able to go to college. “Life doesn’t always go to plan, I guess,” she said to no one as she poked around the gift shop. There was nothing of note, all except for a note stabbed by a doorway. It didn’t settle right with her, but she decided to pocket the the note for now. Mac knew that this meant that there were people nearby, and probably not of friendly ilk.  
In the nearby cabin, she found a coat. It was thick denim, with a fleece inside. She threw it on, hoping that any insects were either too large to hide or killed by the radiation. The jacket did have a negative affect on her however, as it made her think of what life was like before all of this. Mac decided to stay in the cabin overnight, but was too worried about the presence of other people to start a fire. The next day, she thanked herself for this.  
She guessed it was about three AM by the height of the moon, when she heard people yelling in the gift shop. The service pistol was already in hand as she crept toward the door of the cabin. By her best guest, the people yelling here two tweakers trying to find a way into a basement. _I might be safe if I stay quiet _, but she was wrong. The two druggies suddenly started to head toward her hiding spot, and all she could do was wait for a moment to strike. One passed by without looking over, but the second one hesitated by the doorway. Mac took this moment to make a move. She stood suddenly, striking the sickly figure under their chin. Pivoting them, she had them in a chokehold, and pointed the gun at the other druggy. It was almost like a hive mind between them and a few others, because as soon as she was seen, three more showed up. Five insurgents, twelve rounds. Two drew guns and fired, hitting her human shield, but taking away from her time to think. She fired back, seeming to hit them in the dim light of the moon. One falls; doesn’t move. The other hits the ground and squirms. The third insurgent came forward fast with a tire iron, but got two fast shots to their center of mass, and fell like the rest.  
None of them had useful ammo, and she was not inclined to use the makeshift pistols that two had been wielding. The only useful things she found were: a combat knife, a stimpak, and a few items that seemed like drugs. Though it was still dark out, Mac knew that she needed to get a move on, and kept following the nearby road South. She needed to get to Diamond City, and she hoped that she would make it there in one piece.__


	2. Great Green Giants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mac has to deal with several new things as she gets to Diamond City. She also runs into someone who can help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry about the massive delay between chapters. I'm going to try not to abandon this. Between finishing my degree and trying not to catch COVID, things got crazy.

The trek to Diamond City was rough. Mac found herself taking cover behind the concrete barrier of a bridge. Green, massive men were unloading round after round at the lone adventurer, and Mac had to think fast. She had stashed away one frag grenade attached to her belt. Poking her head over the edge of her cover during a break in the firing, she pulled the pin, and tossed the explosive underneath an abandoned car in front of her assailants. The gunfire started again as the grenade left her hand, and Mac had to rush to back into her cover in order to keep her shitty little life on the move. The frag blew, the explosion muffled by the car, but Mac hoped that the fusion engine would be unstable enough to blow too. “Puny human!” the main green monster yelled as Mac waited for the car to come through. Mac had been silent throughout this gunfight, mostly due to blind fear. She had a similar experience after fighting something called a ghoul in a trailer park a day or so before. She was lucky to find a traveling merchant, and she learned what the fuck that was as well as being able to buy stimpaks. Gun fire popped through the air, and then a louder explosion ripped through the air. The car went up with its own mushroom cloud, and the rest of the cacophony died down. Luckily much of the loudness of this miniature nuclear explosion was muffled by the flight helmet she had snagged previously. Mac leaned against the barrier heavily for a moment, just to catch her breath and reload her pistol.

“What the fuck was all that?” she said aloud as she stood back up. The first few steps she took across the bridge were accompanied with her knees cracking with every step. The green men were all dead, and she got to get a closer look at all of them. Each one was incredibly tall, and overly muscular. The oddest part is that they were all green, and the way that they spoke led one to believe they weren’t the smartest.

“I guess I’ll have to ask about these bastards later,” Mac hesitantly holsters her gun and makes her walk across the bridge swiftly.

After passing through the destroyed ruins of Boston, and having to take out a few raiders on the way, Mac makes it to Diamond City.

“This is Fenway Park. I guess that makes sense,” Mac mumbles as she walks through the open gate. The site of Fenway made her remember heading to baseball games with her sister. Everyone figured that Mac would be into baseball, but in reality it was Nora. Mac could remember that Nora was very excited to see the Red Sox win the morning the bombs fell, but Mac was hoping she would find her here like the old days. The initial introduction to the town is fairly welcoming, and Mac is instantly drawn to the noodle stand in the center of town. Before she can get there, however, a child hocks a newspaper at her.

“Remember, the Institute’s out there newcomer. Watch your back.” Mac took the paper from her, and looked at the kid directly. She couldn’t have been more than twelve, but there was a level of knowledge in her eyes that Mac would never obtain. Or felt like that anyway.

“Thanks kid, I’ll read this over,” the girl ignored her, but Mac had already pressed on enamored by the thought of noodles, or hot food in general. Mac took a seat at the counter, and tried to flag down the robot running the stand.

“Hey buddy, two noodles,” Mac’s voice came out somewhat gruff and louder than she expected, garnering glares from her seat mate but the robot’s attention.

“Nan-ni shimasu-ka _?”_

“What? Two noodles, my guy.”

“Nan-ni shimasu-ka _?”_

 _“_ Two. Noodle. Cups. Please.”

“You must be new,” a woman’s voice was suddenly directed at Mac. She looked over her shoulder to find a red jacket taking a seat next to hers. “Takahashi doesn’t say anything else, but he’ll still get your noodles for you.”

Mac just nodded, not really wanting to have to take off her helmet to eat but desperately wanting to fill the void in her torso.

“The name’s Piper, and I’ve gotta ask, which vault did you crawl out of?”

The woman was a talker, but asTakahashi dropped off her noodles, she didn’t mind the questions. Mac peeled her helmet off, and pushed her hair back, “Vault 111, it was up nearby Concord if that rings a bell.” Mac didn’t even look back up at the red clad woman that ask her, as she began to destroy the first set of noodles that had been dropped off. Then it clicked.

“Wait how did you know I was from a Vault?”

Mac had covered up her Vault Suit a while ago, finding a solid winter jacket and jeans to go over the cold jumpsuit that reminded her what she was here for.

“Honestly, it’s the fish out of water look on your face, but it does seem like you might be a little more used to the water than the other one.”

The woman grabbed her own noodles and joined Mac in eating.

“What do you mean other one?”

Mac’s voice came out with a tinge of a shake at the end. She felt like this woman knew something about Nora, and Mac also felt like the women knew she had that information as well. Her neighbor slurped her noodles contentedly, “There was another Vault Dweller from the same vault. She came in a few days ago, but left yesterday with Nicky to look for her son.” The woman laid this out so matter of factly, but Mac felt like she was going to lose her mind, and her dinner.

“What was your name again?” Mac kept her cool, as she didn’t want to scare this information away with an outburst.

“Oh, how unprofessional . My name’s Piper. Piper Wright. I’m the only reporter in…” Mac cut her off.

“Nice to meet you Piper, but I’m going to need you to tell me everything you know about Nora.”

Piper had invited Mac to her house nearby the gates of Diamond City. Mac’s realization that she had already passed by, and met Nat, was muted by a torrent of thoughts rushing through her head.

Nora had been through here, which means Nora should come back through here. That made sense to Mac, but the world outside these green walls was no longer sensible, and the mere thought of never getting to find Nora made Mac want to curl up and die on Piper’s living room floor.

“Hello, you in there friend,” Mac’s thoughts were cut short by Piper waving a hand in front of her face. Mac didn’t really say anything, but did acknowledge the interruption with a furrowed brow.

“I asked if you smoked,” Piper offered out a cigarette from a surprisingly well preserved pack, and Mac just couldn’t resist the old temptation.

“Oh, yeah I do. Thanks,” Mac took the cigarette and struck the lighter that Piper had set down on the coffee table. Mac took a deep draw, noting how different cigarettes tasted now. They were somehow dusty, but not totally rancid tasting as smoke the filled her lungs for the first time in many years. _200-ish if I’m being honest_. Mac had taken a seat on an old couch and Piper in her eye line, leaning on an old newspaper stand.

Mac turned her attention back to the red-clad journalist that had been studying her face for a moment.

“So,” Mac flicked the ash off her smoke into the Nuka-Cola bottle that was already filling with other discarded smokes, “When did you see Nora?”

“A day or so ago, Blue. But if this is going to work, I’d like to go toe to toe with you about questions.”

“Blue?”  
“Yeah, I can definitely see the jumpsuit peeking from under your shirt” Piper looked pleased with herself with her own observation.

Mac glanced down at her shirt. The flannel buttons had slightly torn off, allowing the vault suit to peek through.  
“You been lookin’ at my chest friend?” Mac spoke through the smoke exiting her mouth as he drawled out her sentence, and enjoying the stunned pause that it gave Piper.

“You can ask away though, I’m sure you didn’t get much time to talk to my sister.” Mac was deliberate in this, if she could get this conversation moving in the direction of knowing where her sister had gone off to, the sooner she could hit the road to find her.

Piper pulled out a notepad without hesitation and immediately broke into a grin, “What was the vault like? The only other vault dwellers come from 88 and they aren’t the most talkative.”

Mac took another puff from her smoke, “It was cold. Like really, really cold.” The smoke dissipated through the air as Piper looked back with annoyance.

“Oh is that why you’re _so_ cool? C’mon tough guy, gimme something!” Piper’s hands flew around with each stressed word, as she expressed her frustration in Mac’s simple answer. Mac shifted forward, and leaned on her knees as she gave her answer, “They froze us. Made it down just in time to see a fiery cloud end the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have advice, let me know. This is my first fanfiction work.


End file.
